Squash, Potato & Caramelized Onion Tart
A warm and cozy savory tart on a rainy day with candlelight and the fireplace going is about as good as it gets. I made a Squash, Potato & Caramelized Onion Tart Tuesday evening as the “bomb cyclone” (a weather phenomenon I’d never heard of until now) was preparing to hit the West Coast and hoped that the power didn’t go out before my tart was baked. Thankfully, we didn’t lose power. (More on the storm below.) Anyhow, in anticipation of the storm, I was safe and warm in my kitchen making this cozy tart with rain and hail pounding on all four sides of the house. A beautiful thing about this colorful tart is that you can make it your own with your choice of sweet or russet potatoes and any mix of fall squash such as butternut, honey nut, acorn, delicata, or acorn. You could serve roasted chicken alongside the tart, but really it could be dinner on its own with a crisp green salad and a glass of wine.
Apple-Cinnamon Dutch Babies for Two
I woke up early one morning last week to a glorious sunrise. I took a short walk up the hill, made my coffee and decided it was the perfect day to make the apple Dutch babies that have been floating around in my head. Dutch babies, also known as Dutch or German pancakes, are baked in the oven instead of cooked on a griddle like the typical American-style buttermilk pancake. This was my first fall-themed Dutch pancake of the season, an apple-cinnamon version, with maple-whipped cream on top.
Delicious Pumpkin Bread Recipes
Have you ever stopped to think about why banana bread is one of the items that people overwhelmingly chose to bake during the pandemic? Why not pumpkin or some other quick bread? I’d wager to say that banana bread is seasonally agnostic and popular throughout the year. Plus, it makes us feel like we are doing our part when we use up the overripe bananas on the counter. A beautiful thing about quick breads is that they are very approachable. No yeast or proofing times are involved. Typically, these easy breads require one bowl, one stirring utensil and a loaf pan. There must be thousands of banana bread recipes on the internet. A quick Instagram look this morning tells me that #bananabread has over two million posts (2,058,899), while #pumpkinbread has a mere 183,104 posts. Pumpkin, somewhat surprisingly, beat out zucchini bread (85,923 posts). While I’ve tried several banana bread riffs, it’s hard to believe that I’ve made the same pumpkin bread recipe for the past 20 years. So today I’m stepping out. I made a new recipe for pumpkin bread that includes a dusting of cinnamon and sugar before going into the oven. And she’s gourd-geous.
Fall baking: Cue the apples and pumpkin
I have slowly and a bit reluctantly let go of summer, inched into the fall season, and started dreaming of fall baking complete with warm spices, apples, pumpkin, pears and maple-flavored everything. I mean, isn’t that what fall is all about? (Okay, maybe some football too.) In my divine order of fall baking, apples come first. After all, apples are equated with teachers and back to school. I also happen to live in the beautiful state of Washington, where apples are aplenty; the state produces over half the Nation's domestically grown apples. Or maybe apples reign first for me because I refuse to give into the societal pressure related to pumpkin spice lattes re-joining the Starbucks menu in late August. Hold on pumpkin, wait your turn. My first little fall baking task was the Zoë François Apple Almond Galette. However, I’m proud to say that I waited until the calendar officially declared it was fall and then the very next day, I baked a pumpkin chocolate snack cake.
Dessert for breakfast (part 1)
Over-the-top pancakes, waffles and French toast
I’m a firm believer that eating dessert in the morning – when you have the entire day ahead of you to work off those calories – is not only acceptable, but beats eating dessert before you go to bed (looking at you pint of Vanilla Swiss Almond Häagen-Dazs). Seriously is there a better time for dessert than breakfast? If you type “is it okay to eat dessert for breakfast” in your browser’s search bar, you’ll be rewarded with results that totally validate this decision. As much as I love something sweet in the morning with my coffee, I find it’s best to balance that sweet tooth with a savory protein. That’s why fried eggs go with pancakes (I confess that I’m a syrup and yolk mixer), sausage goes great with French toast and all that syrup, and it’s why someone decided to add bacon to maple bars. While grabbing a cookie with your coffee could do the trick, why not serve up some extra-decadent pancakes, waffles or French toast this holiday season?